Happy Friday guys & dolls!

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I woke up to a message from our South African Senior Editor, Allegro, informing me that Mam Albertina Sisulu had passed away in her home in Linden, Johannesburg, South Africa. She was 92 and according to reports, she was was watching television at the time of her passing. One of her grandsons, Shaka Sisulu tweeted:

Mrs. Albertina Sisulu, affectionately known as Mam Sisulu was a former president of the South African political party, the African National Congress, (ANC) Women’s League. She was a stalwart champion for the women in South Africa:

“Women are the people who are going to relieve us from all this oppression and depression. The rent boycott that is happening in Soweto now is alive because of the women. It is the women who are on the street committees educating the people to stand up and protect each other”

Mam Albertina Sisulu was married to Tata Walter Sisulu, South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the ANC who was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 12, 1964. With other senior ANC figures, Tata Sisulu served the majority of his sentence on Robben Island.

I remember meeting Tata Sisulu in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1995 or 1996. I was in South Africa working on my senior thesis and had to meet some ANC officials regarding my work at Luthuli House, ANC headquarters. I had made it through the security, when suddenly there was a commotion and guests were being asked to step aside. I noticed a light-skinned gentleman with the most engaging smile on his face. I know my African heros and heroines when I see them! Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu. I totally broke protocol and went past his security and gave him a hug! It was a moment in history for me & this was my way of expressing my gratitude. He had given his life for my freedom, our freedom.

This post is my way of expressing my gratitude to Mam Albertina Sisulu for being a champion of civil rights, women’s rights, my rights, our rights….

Wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo uzo kufa. You touch women, you touch a rock. You will die